#201 - Jay Epperson Interview On Retro Studios, Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze, Mario Kart 7, Concept Art..... episode artwork

EPISODE · Feb 28, 2026 · 1H 1M

#201 - Jay Epperson Interview On Retro Studios, Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze, Mario Kart 7, Concept Art.....

from Kiwi Talkz

Jay Epperson is a concept artist who is probably most famous for his concept art on Donkey Kong Country Returns and especially on Tropical Freeze. #nintendo #donkeykong #donkeykongcountry Thanks to the Patreon Producers for making this happen Stipe, Borkey, Magic8TIMESTAMPS00:00 - Intro00:35 - How Jay Went From Being An Illustrator To Becoming A Concept Artist At Retro04:50 - Interview Process At Retro/Getting Artists To Draw In Interviews07:22 - Coming In As A Concept Artist Towards The End Of DKC Returns10:20 - Retro’s Environmental Artists Were Smart11:13 - Jay’s Art Is In The DK Theme Park13:15 - Working With Designers16:10 - Doing Concept Art On Tropical Freeze18:42 - Choosing Vikings Over Aliens For The Concept19:57 - Tikis Vs Snowmads/Reusing Assets21:20 - Why The Ice World Is The Last Level22:00 - Sales On Wii U/Coming Up With The Different World Themes25:06 - CONCEPT ART REEL - Juicy Jungle World29:27 - CONCEPT ART REEL - Water World31:11 - CONCEPT ART REEL - Mangroves World/Cut Concepts32:38 - CONCEPT ART REEL - Savannah World33:18 - Showing Portfolios To Potential Employers Without Breaking NDAs33:50 - There Arent Limitations On The DK IP34:35 - Referencing Rare’s Work35:33 - Nintendo Japan Were Hands Off On Concept Art36:22 - Working On Mario Kart 7/Jay Isn’t Included In The Credits38:30 - Jay’s Outlook “My Next Piece Will Be My Best Piece”40:25 - Japan & Retro Testing Mario Kart 741:06 - Jay Reviews DK Bananza25:29 - Jay Thinks DK Bananza Is A One Off47:00 - Jay Doesnt Like K Rool’s Character Design50:39 - DK’s New Look52:22 - Why Jay Left Retro Studios53:20 - Retro Studios Is One Of The Best Studios To Work For54:00 - Retro Studios Art Team/Metroid Prime 455:35 - Nintendo Are Art Forward Not Technology Forward56:35 - Will Retro Work On Donkey Kong Again?57:35 - Will Retro Work On Metroid Prime 5/Would Jay Work On DK Again If Retro Asked59:40 - Closing Comments

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Feb 28, 2026

Embed this episode

Ready to play

#201 - Jay Epperson Interview On Retro Studios, Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze, Mario Kart 7, Concept Art.....

0:00 1:01:31

No transcript for this episode yet

We transcribe on demand. Request one and we'll notify you when it's ready — usually under 10 minutes.

No similar episodes found.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long is this episode of Kiwi Talkz?

This episode is 1 hour and 1 minute long.

When was this Kiwi Talkz episode published?

This episode was published on February 28, 2026.

Can I download this Kiwi Talkz episode?

Yes. Use the download control on the episode player to save the publisher-provided media file.
URL copied to clipboard!